


Film at 11

by dbw



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-20
Updated: 2009-11-20
Packaged: 2017-10-03 10:36:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dbw/pseuds/dbw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This is everything we shot, boxer shorts included. A souvenir."</p><p>"Did you just make a date?"<br/>"Yeah, I guess. Yeah."<br/>"All right. Pretty smooth. Still be careful."<br/>"Of what?"<br/>"Well, you know, date at 8:00, news at 11:00."<br/>"Ah, that's nice."</p><p>The Sentinel     <i>True Crime</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Film at 11

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted December 2003

Blair sat on the floor between the couch and the coffee table and contemplated the words he'd just typed on his laptop with a frown. He'd been battling that particular passage for an hour and he still hadn't been able to get it just right. He looked up as the front door to the loft opened. A quick glance at the clock in the kitchen revealed that it was only 10 o'clock.

"Hey, Jim. You're back earlier than I expected. How'd the date go?"

Ellison hung up his coat, stepped into the kitchen and reached into the fridge for a cold beer. "Okay, I guess." He leaned back against the counter and took a long drink. "Tell you the truth, I was bored out of my skull, Chief."

"Bored?" He raised his eyebrows and blinked. "Wendy seemed pretty smart to me and she's definitely easy on the eyes. How could you be bored?"

Ellison shrugged. "Maybe if she could talk about something other than herself and her career, it might've been different. No matter what subject I tried to change to she managed to bring it around to something to do with herself. I'm all for embracing one's sense of self worth, but this was a bit over the top."

"Oh man, I had no idea." Blair shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Jim. I really thought you two might hit it off." He glanced down at his laptop and missed the odd expression that briefly crossed his friend's face.

"I dunno about that. I really wasn't looking for anything more than a pleasant evening, myself."

"Sounds like you didn't even get that."

Ellison opened the fridge and grabbed another beer. He wandered over to the couch and sat down, his knee close to Blair's shoulder, and handed him the bottle. "Yeah, well, the evening's still young and I'm right where I want to be. Could be worse -- I could still be sitting at Andronico's listening to Wendy prattle on about how important appearances are in her line of work and how she won't have any problem with making that appointment with the plastic surgeon when the time comes."

Blair winced. "That bad, huh?"

"That was the interesting part of the conversation," he said dryly. "I was too bored to pay attention to much of the rest of it."

"Huh. How'd you get away?" He bit back a grin. "I mean, wasn't she the least bit curious why the date ended so early?"

Jim snorted softly. "Nah. Not after I mentioned that I thought she looked tired. Turns out her first assignment is the early morning news and she's worried about looking haggard. Cutting the date short was actually her idea."

Blair shook his head. "Don't look now, but your covert ops experience is showing, making her think it was all her idea. You're riding that fine line between using your powers for good or for evil, man."

"Oh no, Chief. It was definitely for good. Trust me." Jim took a swig of his beer and then grinned. "If I'd had to listen to much more of that, it wouldn't have been pretty."

"Guess you won't be going on another date with her any time soon, huh?" He averted his eyes at the sudden wash of satisfaction that passed through him. What was that about? Why would the thought that Jim wouldn't be seeing Wendy again make him feel good? What kind of friend was he, anyway?

"Nope. There are definitely a few 'stakeouts' in my immediate future."

Blair glanced at him curiously. "Whoa, man. Whatever happened to Mr. Do-the-right-thing? I thought you'd be more up front with her about not wanting to go out again."

"Ah, normally I would, Chief. But, you see, I looked through that box of video tapes that she gave me, you know?" When Blair nodded, he continued, "Well, let's just say that I don't think that all of them are the originals. I really don't want to make her mad enough to decide to edit them and put them on the air."

"Huh? How could you tell?"

"The ones that _are_ originals are extremely sharp and clear. The others have a bit of fuzziness to them. Just enough to make me suspect that they're duplicates. I doubt that most people would be able to catch it."

"Wow. Really? I wonder why she did that?" Blair narrowed his eyes when a slight blush crept up Jim's neck. "Wait a minute. What was on the tapes that were the duplicates?"

Jim cleared his throat. "You remember that morning when they showed up here really early? Well, um, pretty much all of the footage of the two us that morning was on the duplicated tape. And there was some stuff later that I wasn't aware that they were taping."

"What other stuff?"

Jim waved a hand in the air. "Just some stuff between the two of us. You were helping me with my senses and, um, well, it was just our normal interaction."

Blair frowned. Jim was being deliberately evasive and that wasn't like him. "Spit it out, man. What is it that you're not telling me?"

Jim sighed. "It's just that the footage of you and me when we're dealing with my senses, well, some people might misconstrue what it means."

"Misconstrue?" Blair raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, Professor, I said misconstrue." Jim playfully swatted at Blair's head, catching only hair when he ducked. He shrugged. "It's just how we are with each other, Chief. I touch you, you touch me. It helps ground me, gives me something to split my focus on. But, well, to other people, people who don't know us, it might look, um, odd."

"Odd." Blair turned away and looked out the balcony windows. All of a sudden he felt a heaviness in his chest that hadn't been there before and he wasn't quite sure where it came from or what to do about it. He just knew that he couldn't look at Jim, that he was positive that he didn't want to see the expression on his friend's face at that moment. He closed his eyes. "You mean they'll think that there's something going on between us. Something sexual." His voice was flat, as devoid of emotion as he could make it.

"I just didn't want you to be embarrassed, Blair. That's all." Jim's voice was soft and tinged with regret.

"You're my friend, man. You're closer to me than anyone, maybe even closer than my mom. I'd never be embarrassed because someone thought that about us, Jim."

He felt a warm hand gently grip his chin and turn his face towards his friend. He kept his eyes closed until he felt the fingertips of Jim's other hand lightly caress his cheek. He blinked and gazed up at him in surprise. The warmth in Jim's eyes caused something to flutter and curl in his belly.

"I'd never be embarrassed about that either, Chief. I just didn't want you to be put in a spot where you either had to defend or explain our actions. It wouldn't be fair to you." He smiled, a soft little smile that Blair rarely saw and that caused the fluttering in his belly to grow stronger. "I don't ever want to see you hurt, Chief. Especially not when I can do something to prevent it. I...I care too much about you for that."

Blair swallowed heavily. "I care about you, too, Jim. More than I should." He leaned his cheek into the caressing hand.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Jim's voice was husky.

"Yeah, I am." He smiled.

Jim leaned down and kissed him, a brief, hard, closed mouth kiss that sent the flutters spiking wildly. He took firm hold of Blair's arms and pulled him up on the couch next to him.

"I want you, Blair. Make no mistake about that." There was something raw and primal in his tone and in the way he growled out the words. "I'm not looking for a one night stand from you or a buddy fuck or a temporary experiment. I've waited this long for you; I'm willing to wait longer if I have to. I need to know that we're on the same page. I love you, Chief."

Blair nodded, unable to find his voice.

Jim's lips twitched in amusement. "I can't believe that I finally managed to silence you the one time I really need to hear you say something. Tell me, Chief. Is this what you want?"

"I want you." There. He'd said it. Could they get on with the kissing and touching, please?

Jim chuckled ruefully. "That much I can tell on my own. But for how long?"

How long? How about forever? Oh, right, he was supposed to _say_ it. "Forever? Would forever work for you, Jim? 'Cause I'm thinking that's the only thing I want with you. I love you, too, Jim." Okay, that worked.

Blair was rewarded with the hottest kiss he could ever remember being on the receiving end of and that was saying something. It warmed him up right down to the tips of his popsicle toes, like a heat wave sweeping through his body. Was it springtime already? The fluttering in his stomach turned into a full blown ache that only seemed to be assuaged by Jim's touch. Thank god the man seemed to be more than willing to accommodate him.

 

~~~~~~~ooo~~~~~~~ooo~~~~~~~ooo~~~~~~~

 

His next coherent thought was when he woke up in Jim's bed with his head on Jim's shoulder and Jim's arms wrapped securely around him. He was sleepy and sated and sore in places where he'd never been sore before and more content than he could ever remember being. He could feel the gentle rise and fall of Jim's chest under his hand as he breathed.

How'd this happen, he wondered in bemusement? One minute they were talking about Jim's disaster of a date with Wendy and the next they were getting physical in Jim's bed. Not that he was complaining, just that he was a bit confused about how it had all come about. He'd been totally clueless about his own feelings until Jim had told him about the video tapes.

Suddenly he'd just known. Known that his love for Jim went beyond the bounds of friendship and partnership. That he loved every part of this man with all of his being and that the thought that anyone could find the idea of the two of them together repugnant in some way was devastating. How could it ever be wrong to love Jim, in any way that Jim would accept that love to be expressed? The thought bewildered him and he pushed it away firmly. The answer was that it couldn't be wrong, it would never be wrong for him to love Jim. And anyone who believed otherwise was the one who was clueless.

He thought briefly about Wendy Hawthorne and the fact that she'd kept the tapes of the two of them. He hoped she got some pleasure out of them, but he rather doubted it. More than likely she kept them because they showed her something that she'd never really had. He yawned and closed his eyes. As he drifted off he decided that he just might have to send her something, flowers maybe, as a thank you that she'd never understand. Jim would know what was appropriate. As if he knew that Blair was thinking about him, Jim tightened his hold. Blair pressed a little closer to his warmth and fell asleep with a smile on his face. Wendy might have her film at 11, but Blair had the real thing.


End file.
